


Minutiae

by You_Missed_Me_Right



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, AxE, Blood, Blood and Gore, Crime, Death, Erwin Smith Has Both of His Arms, Erwin Smith's Eyebrows, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Drama, Farlan and Isabel live, Gangs, God bless Petra Ral, Gore, Guns, Hange Zoë Is A Little Shit, Hange Zoë's Experiments, How do I tag?, I Don't Even Know, I can't stress how much serial killing there will be, I swear, I'm getting there, Jean Kirstein and Eren Yeager Fight, Kenny Ackerman Being an Asshole, Language, Mad Hange, Major character death - Freeform, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related, Mike has an axe, Mike-Centric, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager, Murder, Petra lives, Police, Reader likes coffee, Reader-Insert, Romance, Serial Killers, Slice of Life, Suspense, Swearing, This is gonna get darker, Violence, for now, knife, relationship, until he doesn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2019-10-10 08:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17422133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/You_Missed_Me_Right/pseuds/You_Missed_Me_Right
Summary: The Survey Corps is an organisation which makes up a third of the Intelligence Unit in the city. It monitors criminal activity and expertise in sneaking and spying from the shadows.[Name] works for the Survey Corps as one of the Scouts, trained agents who spend most of the time out in the field.Unfortunately, someone is keeping a constant track of your whereabouts and they keep leaving behind 'presents' for you to uncover. Soon an epic game of cat-and-mouse begins...and your skills are put to the test.





	1. This is your life, now.

In, out, in, out...

You are running as hard as you can down an empty street in the middle of the night.

With each breath you take, your sides ache. Everything that has happened up to this point is relying on whether you can make it in time.

Everything is dependent on you now. There is no one else to help, this is on you alone. 

And you are tiring.

In, out, in, out…

You spare a quick glance over your shoulder. In that brief second, you see the worst possible sight before your eyes. 

He’s coming.

Oh god. 

He’s coming!

At the corner of the street, you swerve to the left, running frantically down the side street rattling at doors until you find one which is unlocked. Panting, you scrabble at the door handle, manage to yank it open and dash inside, bolting the door shut behind you.

Through the darkness, you make out the faint outlines of a sink and a wooden table. There’s an oil lamp sitting on it that looks recently blown out. The inhabitants of this place are either out or fast asleep and the faint chimes of a clock tell you it’s most likely the latter. The miniature clockwork chimes thrice - the sun won’t be up for another few hours at least. 

You can’t stay here for long though, even now you tense at the sound of pounding footsteps getting closer with every second. 

The door’s been locked but that won’t be a foolproof way of stopping him coming in here, especially if he knows where I am.

You cast your mind around wildly, hands outstretched as you feel your way down the length of the table and further into the gloom of the kitchen - hidden from the light coming from the street and away from the window.

There’s no time to hide now, his footsteps are around ten metres away. The sound echoes down the narrow side street, bouncing off the walls. 

You reach out desperately, surely there’s a cupboard or small corner you can tuck yourself away in? Your fingers only brush wall plaster, solid and unmoving. You try to calm your ragged breathing. There’s nothing for it, you’ll have to make do and think of something else.

You only have two options: either hide under the table or against the side of the room. 

Heart beating in your throat, you crouch down, creeping forward silently until you’re pressed almost flat against on side of the sink, behind the table. You feel the handle of the cupboard underneath it digging into your spine but dare not move. 

The footsteps grow louder until they’re suddenly cut off and you stop breathing. It honest-to-gods sounds like he’s stopped right outside the house you are now hiding in.

You risk a peek around the leg of the table and freeze at what you see.

He’s stood outside the window. The light from the narrow side street is dim but you can still make out his huge silhouette. A hand makes it way up to stop you from gasping or making any sort of sound that may give you away.

You can’t make out his features but by the way, he’s tilting his head, you know he’s observing the room from behind the fragile panes of glass.

Maybe he can smell me, the fear I’m emitting, the fatigue from running. He knows there’s not much point in my running away from him - he’ll catch me sooner or later anyway! Is...is this all a game to him? How he gets his kicks?

You jump violently as he rattled the door latch sharply. The metal bolt which you slide across the door was strong but you knew he could easily break through it if he tried.

Please, please, just turn and walk on. I’m not inside here. Go away, please.

You stifle a whimper and press yourself back against the sink, you can feel your heart pounding even faster. His breathing is louder, he’s inhaling slowly and -oh gods, he can smell you. You feel a tear slide down the side of your face, leaving a wet trail behind it. You don’t know how much longer you can keep this up.

You wait, for what seems like aeons, as he stands there. You only allow yourself to breathe when he moves slowly away and you can hear his footsteps echo further down the street, growing fainter and fainter.

After a moment of silence, once the panic coiling around your stomach begins to shrivel up, you let out a heavy breath.


	2. Coffee makes the world go ‘round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn more about [Name] and her workplace...

Two months earlier

“Hey, can you get me a coffee?”

You sigh as you roll around a pen in your hands. Stood beside you, your partner smirks as he inspects the dark circles under your eyes.

“Another all-nighter with Marco?”

You scoff at his feeble attempts to irritate you. “Ha! I wish...no, actually I was on night shift, covering for Nanaba.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing but her mother is ill so she’s on leave looking after her.”

Erwin whistles, placing both hands inside his trouser pockets. “Pity you weren’t with Marco,” Then he reaches out an arm to pat you on the head as you glare threateningly at him.

“Alright, I’ll get you a coffee. Sounds like you need the energy.”

You smiled weakly, the pen clattering out of your hands and rolling across the desk. 

“Thanks, Erwin. I owe you one.”

He waves a hand airily. “Just add it to all the other debts you need to repay me for.”

You groan as your partner pats you on the head consolingly and you smirk as he leaves to buy the liquid energy. “You owe me for those magnificent eyebrows, Erwin. They’re only that thick because I filled them in for you!”

The blond doesn’t look back, opting to flip you the finger over his shoulder. 

As Erwin leaves, you see him pass Petra as he turns down the corridor. They greet each other cordially before your partner disappears around a corner. 

Petra is the secretary of the commander of the Survey Corps, a man called Keith Shadis. You suspect her light-hearted nature is what makes her such a great addition to the team. Shadis’ grumpy temperament seems to get cancelled out by his secretary’s cheerfulness.

The small light-haired brunette pushes open your office door and drops the huge pile of paperwork she’s been carrying onto your desk, barely missing one of your hands.

“Good morning, [Name]!” She says, laughing slightly as she takes in your rather dishevelled appearance. “How’s everything going?”

You attempt a smile. “It’s going fine, thanks Petra. Although, honestly? I’m shattered, last night was exhausting.”

As the last few words come out of your mouth, the urge to yawn creeps up. Obliging to your body’s demands, you raise a hand to cover your mouth.

Petra giggles as she moves to leave the room, honey-coloured hair bouncing after her. “Don’t worry, you only need to check over the paperwork for the latest expedition…and you need to go and see Shadis. He’s in a bit of a grumpy mood though! Someone stole his almond croissant from the kitchens.”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Wait, seriously? Oh god, I bet he’s furious.”

She lightly nods, a conspiratorial grin making its way across her face. “Wanna know who took it?”

“Of course!”

Petra’s mouth has just begun to form the first letter of the name when there’s a loud yell from further down the corridor. The owner of the voice seems more annoyed than usual. In fact, annoyed was putting it kindly. Shadis sounded about as happy as a hungry bear which had been woken too early from its hibernation. His secretary jumps slightly when you hear the words he’s shouting.

“Ral! Where are you? I need you to phone up Zackly and tell him I’m too busy to have a meeting with him!”

Her eyes become frantic, you receive a quick wave goodbye before the young woman dashes out the door and back down the corridor. As her footsteps fade away, you slump back down in your chair. It’s probably a good time to start the massive pile of paperwork which is now sitting on your desk. 

Unwilling, you pick up the first file and throw it down in front of you. Hell, this is going to be one long day.

~~~~~~~~~

Erwin arrived with your lukewarm coffee two hours into the mental torture. You take the proffered cup from his, sip it and gag at the taste. The liquid is practically pure coffee, since when did you take it black?

You turn on your partner, eyes bloodshot and narrowed. “What the hell, Erwin! Why is it stone-cold?”

The blond man winces slightly, his eyebrows furrowing. “I honestly got held up on my way back from the coffee shop. Some homeless guy was getting beat up in the middle of the streets, I had to help break it up and talk to the MP’s afterwards. And here, you’ve got mine. Sorry about that, [Name].”

Having heard out his excuse, you swap cups with him, sniff it suspiciously before lifting it to your lips. It could have been better, but honestly, what were the chances it would have made much difference, at least it was drinkable at any rate. You down it, chuck the paper cup into your bin and wipe a hand across your mouth.

“No worries. The Military Police always overdo the questions anyway. It takes ages for them to finish even the smallest of cases and the pettiest crimes!”

Erwin laughs at your puckered mouth, his blue eyes glinting merrily. Then, he looks down at the mountain of paperwork on your desk and groans.

Your last case had been exhausting. You were ordered to survey a drugs ring that moved around in the centre of the city - it’s main suppliers living in another country but the buyers of the drugs had been upper-class gentile. It had not been easy to dig up evidence that many of the powerful nobility had hidden, especially when they tried to bribe, threaten or have you bumped off. 

Still even with the case officially closed, Erwin and you were still receiving death threats. It seemed that you’d both made enemies from the case. Extremely powerful ones too.

You toss the rest of the files at Erwin. “Seeing as I did the majority of these, while you were gallivanting around the city -with my coffee, I might add, you can bloody well finish them off.”

He catches them, huffing slightly as they hit him hard against the chest. “Fine but Shadis wants to speak to us in half an hour.”

“You’d better get a move on, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! Remember to comment what you think about it down below :)


	3. A meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin and [Name] report to Commander Shadis and learn about their new case.

Erwin has barely closed the last file when the clock on your desk lets out a small series of chimes. You leap to your feet as you notice the time. “Shit we need to be there right now!”

The blond calmly stands and smooths down his uniform. You eye him frantically, you’ll be shanked if you’re late, you have to go!

Your partner only sighs at your impatience and walks over to your office door, opens it and starts heading down the corridor to Shadis’ office. When you reach it, you take a deep breath before knocking it sharply.

A gruff voice orders you to, “Come in!”

The two of you enter the Commander’s office and salute him smoothly. Keith Shadis just glares at you both, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, military jacket hanging off his chair.

“Why the hell are you two late?!”

You shoot Erwin a look, eyes glaring daggers. He ignores you and clears his throat before saying, “I’m sorry, sir, that would be on me. I took quite a long time to finish the paperwork for our last case.”

Shadis eyes him grudgingly, then turns on you. Standing up straighter and trying to avoid eye contact (like with dogs or wolves, the man was hostile if you looked him dead in the eye), you muttered an apology.

Trust Erwin to wiggle his way out of a deserved punishment and especially when it was his fault that you were late, to begin with. He always got off doing loads of shit which you would’ve been gutted for. He was such a sly talker. Damn the man and his big eyebrows.

After glaring at you for another minute or so, Shadis sits back in his chair, making the wooden frame creak slightly. “I have a big case for you both.”

This soon? You’ve only just finished the paperwork for the last one. Sure, the bigger the case, the larger the pay but you and Erwin were still tired from the previous mess that Shadis had sent you to sort out.  
Goddammit, were you ever going to get a break?

As usual, Erwin’s face is impassive and his eyes steely. Of course, you can see right through that façade of his - you know well enough that he’s as mentally exhausted as you. The blond man doesn’t hesitate though,

“What do we have to do?”

Inwardly sighing, you wait impatiently as Shadis gathers up a pile of papers on his desk and straightens them. The commander offers them to Erwin, who takes them with an outstretched hand.

You angle yourself slightly, to get a better look at the picture on top of it. It’s the mugshot of a tall guy, his dark eyes seem to stare out of the photo in your very soul. It sends cold tingles up your back for some reason. Erwin is frowning, his face set grimly.

Who the hell is that? You force your gaze away and back up at Shadis. The case looks old, maybe a couple of years judging by the grainy photograph. Only recently has the technology provided to the Survey Corps become slightly more sophisticated - hell you even had a bunch of really crap climbing gear, complete with grappling hooks and all. Still, it was a far cry from smooth sailing, the tech you used was unhelpful at the best of times.

“That man is one of the notorious serial killers still at large in this country. His last known location appears to be Trost, however, new reports and sightings indicate he’s currently hidden away in this city. We must find and apprehend this man before he is able to harm anyone else. Since last year, the guy’s kill count has reached fifty-seven innocent people, of which twelve were children.”

Erwin and you exchange a shocked glance. Never before have you worked on such a high profile murder case before. The man in question was highly dangerous, you’d both have to pull out all the stops while trying to hunt him down.

“We’ll give it our all, sir, we won’t let you down.”

“I should hope not! You two are the best which the Survey Corps can offer. You’ll be working alongside the Military Police to gather as much intel on the man as you can before we take him out.”

“The MPs?” You try to hide the disdain in your voice but going off the frown etched across Shadis’ forehead you seem to have failed. “We’re working with them?”

“Damn right you are! The Military Police will be a vital part of capturing or, if necessary, killing the target. I trust both Smith and you handle yourselves with the proper dignity and politeness that is due. Failure to cooperate well with their team will lead to your removal from the case.”

You go to respond with something along the lines of, as long as we get the respect we’re due but Erwin elbows you sharply and you hastily shut your mouth. He’d kill you if you managed to lose the biggest murder case you’d heard of, to someone else less qualified. 

Instead, you pinch your lips together into a small frown. “I swear, we’ll behave ourselves, sir.”

Shadis peers into your eyes, his face set. “You’re to meet the two the two officials from the Military Police tomorrow morning at eleven o’clock. I’m trusting you both. Do not let me down! Understood?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far! Remember to comment on what you think so far! Should I make each chapter longer?


	4. Ambitious license

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which nothing much happens...apart from some character development and a glimpse into Erwin and [Name]’s partnership.

A swift salute later and you are both dismissed, Erwin’s blue eyes unable to contain the glee he was suppressing.

Once you’ve reached the corridor, Erwin sticks out his foot, making you topple forward with your limbs flailing and you hit the ground hard. When your bum hits the floor, you let out a shriek of pain and lash out at the blond with an arm.

“That was for almost losing us the case, [Name]! Honestly, are you five? You need to learn to keep your mouth shut.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that Shadis assigned us to work with the MPs! Stupid arseholes...they hate us.”

Your partner only raises a brow, before grabbing your wrist and twisting it. Hard.

You let out a shrill scream.

The ruckus you’ve made brings Petra running down the corridor. She stops short at the sight of you wincing and Erwin smirking at your pain. She lets out a bark of laughter as you pull yourself up with Erwin’s proffered hand and jab at his stomach hard. “Fuck you, Erwin! That hurt.”

Your hit lands squarely and the blond huffs as his abdominals tense against your fist. It’s so unfair, hitting the man is honestly like banging really hard on a wall, why is his body rock solid? It kinda sucks that such a handsome guy can be such a tool.

“Hey! You’re blocking up the corridor. Other people need to get passed too, you know.”

An angry voice jolts you from your sad thoughts and you turn to find Moblit, looking more stressed than ever, fumbling with an armful of files. The guy had recently finished working on surveying a huge gang that operated throughout the city - The Wallsplitters, or something of the sort - and he looked dead on his feet.

Erwin’s eyes dart across the younger man’s face. “Moblit. How’s the case going?”

“It’s a fucking mess, thanks.” The sarcastic comment makes Erwin, Petra and you all pause. Moblit is known for his level-headedness and calm demeanour, the case must be pretty shit for him to say that. 

Looking at his rumpled suit, tired face and dull eyes, ignites a flicker of… alarm inside you. What the hell’s been happening to make him look like this? Holy shit, maybe they’ve put a hit on him. The stuff you have to do on each case certainly angered a great many people. You’re worried that the gang may be messing him up slightly and you make a mental note to catch him later.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Erwin claps his hand down on Moblit’s shoulder. “If you ever need any help, I’d be happy to assist-“

“Thanks Erwin, that’s great to hear. Now I’m sorry but I’ve got to go.”

Without looking back, the brunette turns and marches down the corridor, his shoulders hunched over. 

Petra looks troubled. “I’ll bring this up with Shadis. He may want to know about Moblit’s behaviour.”

Erwin just shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, Petra, I think the guy just needs a break.”

“Maybe that’s true...well, see you both later.”

You turn away from Petra, continuing down to your office and plonking back into your chair. “So, Erwin, let’s see that file. I want to find out more about our mysterious killer.”

The blond man begins to flip through the paperwork, his thick eyebrows raising with each new page. You sit forward as he skims through the text, ears perked in anticipation.

“His name is Mike Zacharius. He’s 27 and pretty scary. Aside from the murders, the man has committed a bunch of crimes including arson, attempted treason, multiple thefts. He emerged about ten years ago, from under the grid anyway, and since then has been evading police capture by the day.”

You let out a deep breath. “My gods, this is going to be an interesting case.”

Erwin sets the file down on your desk. “You’re right! This is huge. Once we’ve locked this guy behind bars, I’ll be able to easily get my hands on promotion to Corporal.”

Ever since you first met Erwin about three years ago this January, the man had talked about his desire to rise up through the ranks of the Survey Corps and Erwin, it seemed, always managed to get what he wanted. The guy would probably shoot you himself in order to achieve his main ambition. He certainly wouldn’t care if the whole unit went up in flames if it meant that he’d be given total command over it all. 

Admittedly, sometimes you were frightened by the intensity in his eyes when he talked about his goals - the man is hardly an easy one to talk to, once the veneer of politeness has worn off. A strange light would enter that piercing gaze and his face would get animated. Honestly though, after seeing Erwin in action, you were glad he was on your side because by god, could he be truly terrifying.

Due to the fact, you are below the average height for your gender and age meant that many people underestimated your skill at fighting and working on the field but having Erwin alongside really helped when you were forced to make contact with scary criminals (or even the Military Police teams) who often sneered menacingly at you.

“I think you could probably even get placed in charge of a Section. I’d have to call you ‘Section Commander’! How cool would that be?”

Your partner smiles at you, grateful for the support. Despite Erwin’s ambitious nature, the two of you have a close connection and you know, deep down, that you’d trust him with your life if it ever came to it.

“Thank you, [Name],” his eyebrows furrow as you stare at him. “But let’s focus on getting this bastard behind bars first.”

“Sounds like a plan! Is your SS license still in date? We’ll need to get those sorted before tomorrow.”

“My what?”

You let loose a loud sigh. “Your search and surveillance license. Your SS license.”

“Nobody calls them that.”

Mouth gaping, you twist your head to look at him. “Yes, they do! That’s what everyone else calls them, anyway. How have you never heard anyone call them that before?”

“Most likely because they aren’t called that,” Erwin reaches into his back pocket and pull out a slim leather wallet. “It should be in date, here.”

He chucks it at you. 

“Seems in order. Mine runs out in two years time, so I think it should be alright.”

You whip out your fancy cardholder and shove it into Erwin’s face. “Hey, do you like it? I got it from a trader in Trost. It’s pretty sweet, huh?”

He rolls his eyes, turning away to look back through Zacharias’ file. “It’s fine.”

“Erwin! You didn’t even look at it.”

Rifling through, your blond partner plucks a small, aged scrap of paper from between the photograph and the top page. He waves it before your disbelieving eyes. “It seems our man has a safe house in the city.”

Annoyed at his lack of interest in your bargain of the year, you grab his wrist sharply, squeezing down hard into his skin. “Let me see that-“ 

You finally decipher the scrawl of words that have been written across the piece of paper. “What the hell? Wait a second...That’s only fifteen minutes away!”


	5. Meeting the professionals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dreaded first meeting with the team sent by the MPs arrives...

After the excitement of last night, you and Erwin had decided it would be best to get into the office earlier than you both usually did the next morning. The mist is still swirling around you when you make your way carefully up the steps towards the entrance of the Survey Corps Headquarters, dew glittering in the pale sunlight that painted the grass either side of the concrete path that led up to the building. 

The atmosphere is tranquil, you feel oddly at peace with the wintery surroundings, only the distant echoes of wagons and carts passing through the city centre interrupting. Pausing for a second, you stop at the top of the steps and watch the long shadows across the grass flicker. Sometimes you wished that you could take a break from the nitty-gritty of the city’s underworld - the large majority of your workload revolved around death, drugs and scandals. Sure, it was exciting to work on a case as large as Zacharias but at the same time…you really needed a holiday.

“[Name]?” A hand comes out of nowhere and lands on your shoulder. The contact makes you freeze momentarily before you bat it away and turn. 

“‘Morning, partner! How did you sleep?”

Erwin’s eyes are sparkling, his blond hair is pristine and while you wouldn’t say he looked excited, there was definitely a slight spring in his step.

“Like a log,” he informs you, smirking. “I should mention, the Military Police sent their people over already. They should arrive any minute.”

“But it’s still so early! I haven’t even had my morning coffee yet.”

Erwin rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “You need to learn how to survive without caffeine.”

Gasping in faux-shock, you clasp a dramatic hand to your chest. “Never! I am and shall always remain a coffee-addict, don’t try taking that away from me.”

The two of you head inside, walking along the ground floor as you discuss the merits of caffeine. As you pass by numerous colleagues, you grin cheerfully at them or offer small waves. Most of the time, the corridors are bustling and filled with noise but since it’s still early, there are only a few people around for you to greet.

Once you hit the stairs, Erwin shoots you a glance. 

“We need to talk about how we can work with the MPs.”

You exhale noisily through your nose. “It’s honestly going to be difficult but I think we need to be friendly, open to ideas and cooperative. And who knows? The people they sent us may be nice.”

“Agreed. This case needs to run as smoothly as possible, if we can work well with them it certainly won’t hinder us.”

When you reach the first floor, your hand is tapping nervously against your side. Erwin leads the way to a small conference room which you’ve never seen before. Shadis probably wanted this to be a professional as possible, you realised, the guy would hardly want to be shown up by the Military Police. 

The two of you walk into the room trying to cover your apprehension. Two people, a man and a woman, are already sat around the table and they look up when you enter, smiles breaking out across their faces.

They both stand and approach you and Erwin, hands outstretched. You take the woman’s hand with a smile of your own.

“[Name] [Last Name], nice to meet you.”

“Call me Isabel.” Her eyes sparkle mischievously. “I can’t wait to work with you both.”

From beside you, you hear a similar exchange between Erwin and the man.

The man turns to you. “I go by Farlan. Good to meet you, [Name]!”

Immediately, you feel more comfortable with the situation and you perch yourself in a chair quite happily. Isabel plonks herself down opposite you, her face excited. “So, what’s the status for this case? Have there been any sightings of the target?”

Erwin sits down in the chair beside you. “No, not yet, although we’ve found evidence that Zacharias could be staked out somewhere not far from these headquarters.” 

Farlan stills, his eyes wide. “Wait, really? Why haven’t you checked it out, yet?”

You can hear the exasperation in Erwin’s voice when he responds, although his face remains blank. Honestly, the man is like talking to a wall sometimes, you can’t read what he’s thinking at all.

“Because we needed permission from the higher-ups and technically you two are part of this team, now, so we waited before scoping it out to meet you.”

Isabel pulls a face at his words. “Well, you’ve met us now, haven’t ya? So why don’t we check out this mysterious hiding place?”

Her enthusiasm is almost infectious and you share a brief glance with Erwin, whose eyebrows have furrowed. “I say, let’s do it.”

Your blond partner glares at your words, his gaze is piercing. Apparently, he doesn’t agree with you, something which he’s not afraid of hiding. “We can’t do it without a Scouting Warrant unless you have one of those handy?”

Farlan ignores the underbite of sarcasm lacing Erwin’s words and pulls a slip of paper from his coat pocket. You take the paper and unfold it, eyes widening as you quickly scan down the page. “Where did you even get this?”

The MP smirks at your surprise, sharing a glance with Isabel before responding. “Our superior thought it would make for the quicker transition if we already had all the paperwork that we’d need to be signed and stamped.” 

You gape at the pair briefly before shrugging. A quick look at Erwin tells you how grudgingly respectful he is about the Military Police’s level of organisation and ability to work easily through all levels of command. Hell, it takes the Survey Corps about a week to approve the use of Scouting Warrants onto a high-level case. You dreaded the day that you’d have to go begging to Commander Shadis for the replacement paperwork for your SS license. Only the Commander had the authority to provide the damned things to the more experienced members of the unit and they ran out every two years. Yours would run out in about two years time and surprisingly you don’t feel too optimistic about your chances of getting it renewed within the month of you requesting the damned thing to be reviewed.  
Snapping back to the present, you stand up with the others as Farlan pockets his warrant again. Isabel almost bounds over to the door and you watch, envying her enthusiasm so early in the morning, before following her outside. 

“Alright let’s go an’ catch a murderer!” says Farlan with a singsong voice as he follows behind the two of you. You spin around to hit him on the shoulder, giggling slightly when you notice the expression of chagrin on Erwin’s face. 

“Farlan, we need to maintain our air of professionalism here!”

“Oh right...sorry.”


	6. Entering the lion's den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Erwin and Reader break into a serial killer's lair...

Although the four of you aren’t heavily armed or wearing defensive clothing, both you and Erwin are carrying the standard weapon of the Survey Corps Scouts: a 4-inch blade made of stainless steel. Yours is currently tucked into your jacket pocket, Erwin’s is strapped to his thigh. The MPs seemed perfectly okay with sneaking around a serial killer’s possible hideout without being offered any type of weapon of defence, so you could only guess what they were concealing underneath their uniforms.

As you get closer to the hideout, Farlan motions for you to stop. With a glance at each other, he and Isabel both pull out identical pistols, shiny and metallic. Erwin pauses at the sight of the guns, his mouth curls up with distaste.

“Are those necessary? We’re only scouting the place out.”

Isabel taps the pistol against her hip. “Can’t be too careful, eh?”

Well, they aren’t wrong. You suppose you’ll just have to get used to the fact that they work differently to you. Farlan signals for you and Erwin to head down a side-alley that loops around the back of the building you’re scouting.

You nod at the guy, meeting Isabel’s eyes as she hesitates when Farlan begins dragging her towards the front of the building. “See you later. Try not to get hurt?”

The other woman rolls her eyes at you but smirks back in response as she turns away. “Sure. Stay safe.”

Erwin has already begun treading carefully into the darkened alleyway, his fingers resting lightly on his knife. You start following him when he looks back at where you’re stood. “[Name], are you coming?”

“Uh, yeah.” You hurry to catch up with him, eyeballing a furry-looking patch of mould growing on the brick wall opposite you. “This is gross.”

The blond man ignores your complaints and instead leads you further down the alleyway out into a backstreet. As you step past a suspicious looking pile of boxes, some discarded newspapers and unemptied food bins, the smell of rotting food makes you gag. “Ew, what even is that?”

“Stop whining. It doesn’t matter how disgusting this place it, we need to focus!”

You try to ignore the horrific smell and breathe heavily through your mouth. “Sorry. Let’s just- go.”

Erwin just keeps moving just as slowly, knife held ready for action as he picks his way over to the disused backdoor and tugs at its rusty handle. The door groans under the force he’s using but refuses to budge. It's locked, apparently. And knowing Erwin, he'll want to waste an extraordinary amount of time opening it. You step forward to lend your partner a hand but the blond man waves you away airily. “I can do this myself.”

“Erwin-”

“Seriously, [Name], I got this.” His arms flex as he puts more pressure on the handle, muscles straining under the exertion.

“No Erwin, listen: if we stay here waiting for you to prove your masculinity, we’ll be ages,” An icy glare is thrown your way, which you ignore. “I’m serious. We can’t waste time waiting for you to open that door when Isabel and Farlan may be facing down Zacharias. We’d be endangering our mission and their lives. So, let me help.”

Your partner lets go of the door handles with a huff. Shooting him a smirk, you sheath your knife and take a few steps back before running and lashing out at the door's lock with all your body weight behind the kick. As your foot makes contact with the brown-rusted metal, it gives way to your weight but you've put too much weight behind it. The door collapses under the impact, sending you sprawling but luckily not making too much of a commotion. You land heavily on your stomach, knocking the wind from your chest and you gasp.

As you pick yourself up and dust down your uniform, Erwin steps past you into the corridor. “Bravo, [Name]. Now Zacharias knows to expect company. Excellent job.”

Eyebrows raised, you pull out your knife with a flourish and follow the blonde man. “Oh shut up. I got the door open, didn’t I? Unlike someone else, I might add.”

The two of you pick your way along the cluttered corridor. It’s dark, the lamps which line the walls are long-since extinguished, the candles within them burnt down to mere puddles. Beneath your feet, the wooden floor creaks with each step, a problem, you think, it gives away your exact position.

Erwin stops suddenly and you have to dig your feet into the hard floor to avoid bumping into his rear end. As you freeze, you notice how fast your heartbeat is; it’s thumping away like a drum in your chest. The unfamiliar pool of fear is beginning to trickle into the pits of your stomach, legs beginning to tremble slightly. Finally, you can’t stand the suspense any longer and you bat at Erwin’s elbow.

“Erwin! Why have we stopped?”

Up ahead through the darkness, you imagine the huge outline of Zacharias lunging out from the shadows and suppress a shudder. It really doesn’t help that it’s so difficult to see in such dim lighting. God, he could be standing a metre away from us and we wouldn’t even notice. A sobering thought indeed.

Erwin’s shoulders are tense. You study his face, his ice-blue eyes now dark with concentration. He’s standing so still, too still, and it’s starting to make you nervous. You hiss urgently up at him. “Erwin?”

He raises a hand, signalling you to shut up.

What the hell? You squint anxiously into the darkness and feel your heartbeat increase. The pounding in your head grows louder and louder and you feel that sickening sense of dread pool into your stomach, alongside the growing fear. Finally, you can’t stand the silence and you dare whisper,

“Is Zacharias here?”

He doesn’t reply. The silence seems deafening, and your senses become heightened. You imagine hearing every skitter of rat claws, their little heartbeats pittering away. The scent of old wood mingles with...something rusty and metallic. You can only hope it’s something metal and not what you dread it to be.

How many people have died in this building? How many are still haunting this place? No, stop, that’s not going to help the situation. Goddammit, [Name], calm down. You’re only freaking yourself out. Stop it.

Finally, you hear Erwin shift slightly, he’s redistributing his weight and then he continues moving, albeit much more quietly. Breathing hard, you follow him anxiously, whacking him across the back in an attempt to get an answer. He stops and twists around to look at you.

“I thought I heard something moving up ahead. I couldn’t risk leading you right into Zacharias. Turns out it was just a mouse.”

“A mouse? You know a mouse weighs a lot less than a fully-grown human man, right? There’s got to be a HUGE difference in weight and mass there.”

Unbelievable. Fucking Erwin being a paranoid arse again. While you understood what was at stake here, he could’ve at least clued you into why he’d stopped so abruptly and not just left you in the dark, literally and metaphorically.

Your blonde partner just shrugs. “Let’s keep moving.”

You can feel the anger rising now. Fear does that to you, it’s such a horrible feeling, you can’t help being pissed off at whatever causes it. This time it was Erwin. Prick. Feeling your ears roaring, you aim a kick at the back of his knee and watch with satisfaction as he whips around to glare at you.

“What was that for?!”

“Don’t fucking scare me like that again! Gods, I thought it was Zacharias and that we were screwed. You bloody idiot I hate you so much-“

Erwin rolls his eyes at your heated whisper but he’s obviously just as freaked out as you. Where you get angry and hot-headed, in Erwin it manifests into this infuriating mask of coldness. Truth be told, sometimes you wondered whether or not he was a psychopath or something. Maybe a high-functioning sociopath?

“I’d prefer not to do this right now. We’re stood in the safehouse of a wanted mass murderer. Can it wait?”

You shake your head, trying to focus on something other than the anger. “Right. Sorry. Let’s continue on, then.”

The two of you continue forward into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to apologise now for my complete lack of professionalism with updating. Also, could anyone tell me how to make parts of sentences italic or bold? I'm so confused about how to...  
> I'd love to tell you that this problem is due to exams but that would be a lie.  
> I'm also lazy.  
> But it's mostly because of exams.  
> Please, feel free to leave me kudos or nice comments if you want! It's like chocolate but a hundred times better.


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